The Sports Beat

• As I’ve previously written, the Tampa Bay Rays are contenders.  While this assertion may seem obvious given their status as the holders of the best record in the best baseball league and division in the world, for many, it’s not.  The Rays possess a +56 run differential, which places them sixth in MLB, and they play in the American League East.  I don’t expect them to hold off the Red Sox in the end, but I do see things staying tighter than A-Rod against the Tigers in the playoffs, and the Wild Card may find itself stuck in that boring “city” the Rays inhabit.
• Justin Masterson sure is a consistent 6 innings every time out there; in fact, he not only averages exactly 6 innings per start, he’s thrown exactly 6 in 4 of 7 appearances for the big club this year.
• The Rays utilized a whopping SIX pitchers against the Sox, and each had an ERA of 3.92 or better.
• Meanwhile, Javier Lopez continues to get it done, and this Chris Smith kid (he’s actually not really a kid, unfortunately for him, because he’s 27) has gotten by on guile and guts thus far.  I’m hoping he can maintain his performance long enough to at least make enough for a down payment on a home out of it.
• Dustin Pedroia has come out of his season-long slump in the nick of time to help carry the team along with Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew (who’s starting to tail off a bit, but has been the team’s best player this season).
• Manny’s bat has looked slower than the green line lately, which is strange considering he was annihilating the ball only a short time ago.

                                            Photo Credit

Don’t look now, but Superman may have lost his cape. 

After his most recent allowance of another man’s mistake to haunt his own record, Red Sox setup man Hideki Okajima has officially become an issue.  A surprise stud last season, Okaji has reverted to the mean, meaning he’s pitching more like the guy the Sox originally thought they had signed, rather than the splitter savant who arguably performed better than Jonathan Papelbon in 2007.

So, what should the Boston brass do?

First of all, don’t panic.  This suggestion is aimed more at fans than at the front office, because their natures run diametrically opposite one another, but it’s important nonetheless.  Okaji remains a viable option out of the ‘pen, and there’s a chance he’ll return to his dominant form by season’s end.  However, close monitoring of the wily lefty’s workload and careful use are necessary.  Clean innings facing hitters who struggle against offspeed stuff would be nice, as would proper rest.  Let’s give the guy a shot to get his head on straight before we decide what we do or don’t have.

Next, somewhat paradoxically, prepare for the worst.  In this case, the worst would be the need for a setup man to tandem with Manny Delcarmen.  Mike Timlin is not the answer, Craig Hansen isn’t yet (and may never be), and Daniel Bard can’t be relied upon quite yet.

My suggestion is the forgotten man, Clay Buchholz, but not in the manner you might think.

Buchholz has a starter’s repertoire and has shown he can get through the order several times.  Four quality pitches will do that, and his struggles early on this season should be seen with a relaxed stance–he’s 23 after all, and his numbers in his first year in Pawtucket could help turn our current bear market into its favored cousin, the bull.  But, Mr. Buchholz doesn’t yet have the fastball command you’d want in a late-inning reliever, so, how does he help the setup situation? 

By replacing Justin Masterson in the rotation.

Masterson has surprised thus far, pitching extremely well with a somewhat limited assortment of tricks on the mound.  In fact, he doesn’t really have any tricks.  He throws a plus fastball with nice movement from his slinger arm slot, and has a nice little slider to complement his money pitch.  But his changeup has been hit hard and doesn’t appear likely to improve to the point of allowing the big baldy the three pitches most guys need to survive the third and fourth time through the order.  Unless he develops a splitter or finds a way to trouble hitters with an unforeseen offering, Masterson will likely end up a slightly better than average starter in the end.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but for a team loaded with starting rotation depth, and a newfound semi-dearth of quality relievers, a two-pitch pitcher with a lively fastball and a pension for throwing strikes should solve some 7th and 8th inning befuddlement.

So, come July, when the media starts rambling on about the need to ship Ojaki out of town and replace him with whatever reliever du jour the market conjures up, hope Theo chooses to refrain.  As any wise old sage might say, the answer lies within.

• Has any athlete ever been hated on more than Kobe Bryant in rap songs?  Long before Shaq unleashed his weak sauce rhymes on stage in New York the other day, Nas slayed TheRapist, i.e. the psych major, KB24, in “These Are Our Heroes.”  Add this hate to the media’s obsession with the game’s best scorer and Bryant might be the most polarizing figure America’s seen since George W. Bush.
• Please, please, please don’t swing at the first pitch in the 9th inning.  Think about it, if you’ve got more or less a 65% chance of making an out on any ball put in play (that’s just a simple figure for this simpleton’s simplified simplification), why would you choose to give the pitcher a chance at notching the easiest out imagineable?  AND DEAR GOD, NEVER swing at the first pitch with no one on and down.  Quick at-bats are to a pitcher what canines are to homo erectus.  (This rant brought to you by Mike Lowell’s first pitch pop-up against the Diamondbacks down 2-1 in the final frame tonight.)
• At no point should an NBA GM decide to “roll the dice” in the draft.  Potential is great, upside is essential, but don’t take anyone who might be good someday.  Take players who are good and might be great in the future.  While it’s great to take some 7′4″ foreigner with a shot to be a stud, odds are he’ll be firing blanks after four wasted years if he’s averaging 8 minutes per game across the big bay in a league that pales in comparison to what he’ll face in America.  This isn’t oil, the price isn’t guaranteed to rise; you’ve got to find a sound stock to invest in almost every time if you want to remain employed.

Watching Euro 2008 has been a fantastic break from the monotony of American soccer.  Crisp passing, magnetic traps, deft one-touches, proper spacing, and strategy fill the pitch in Europe.  In MLS, and wherever the U.S. National Team plays that day, the opposite approach comes out: American-style soccer.  And unlike many American products, this one stinks.

In last night’s New England Revolution-Real Salt Lake matchup, American soccer was at its finest.  The ball flew around the air, aimlessly headed in random directions like an electron, the midfield clogged like the shower drain at a sorority house, and players took misguided shots from all angles like a freshman at her first college party.  Mediocre athletes sure ran around a lot, but accomplished little.  Teamwork evaporated and possession was scarce.  In short, it looked like high school soccer.

The level of play wasn’t the only thing that different from European soccer.  The field confused and baffled with its myriad lines running every which way.  Football, field hockey, rugby, lacrosse, they all could have taken place on that hardened field turf the game occurred on.  The concrete-like surface made the world’s most popular orb look like a child’s boyant rubber bouncy ball.  The corn field I played on in Athol, Massacusetts, at age 10 was more fit for the world’s greatest game than Real Salt Lake’s homefield.

It’s a sad state, American soccer, and David Beckham isn’t going to change that.  Let’s hope Freddy and friends can lift up the world’s lone superpower’s fifth favorite sport in line with its political status, because the current product seems destined for recall.

This is the new version of The Sports Beat, now featured on Today.com.  The blog will be exactly the same, only with minor artificial changes.  Stay tuned for frequent posting.